Correspondence.



4i



[The colour of the eye is interesting. Dr. Greene (Parrots in Captivity,

Vol. III., p. 85) tells us: “The female cannot be distinguished by her

outward appearance from her mate; but as some of these birds have brown

eyes, and others have the irides of a bright orange-red colour, it is possible

that the latter may be the females; and perhaps the young of both sexes

may take after their mothers in this respect; in which case the eyes of the

young males would become dark as they' reached maturity, and those of

the females retain the lighter shade.”


Some nine years ago I received a letter concerning a reputed pair of

these birds, in which I find the following passage : “ These birds I should


say are a pair, the irides of the one being orange-red, of the other brown.

One has also more scarlet upon the head than the other though I think

both are adult.”


I11 the Museum Catalogue (Vol. XX., p. 366), the colour of the iris of

the adult is given as light brown.


The evidence is insufficient to enable us to arrive at a couclusion.

So far as it goes, it might appear that the eye of the immature bird is

orange-red, that of the adult of either sex brown, and, therefore, that the

species cannot be sexed by the colour of the eye. Perhaps some of our

readers will state their experiences on this point.—R. P.]



WINTERING FOREIGN FINCHES OUT-OF-DOORS.


The following advice has been sent to Mrs. Sherston in reply to a query :


Although some of our members have shown that the more delicate

African Finches can be wintered out-of-doors, and although I have myself

known some of them to live through a good many degrees of frost, I

nevertheless think it exceedingly' risky to subject the more thinly' feathered

African Waxbills to extreme cold.


I should certainly recommend that Orange-cheeked and St. Helena

Waxbills should be brought indoors for the winter; but St. Helena Seed-

eaters would probably not suffer from cold, the Serins as a genus being

naturally rather hardy.


I should not be afraid of Ribbon-finches suffering from cold, provided

that they did not attempt to breed in the winter. From my own experience

with them I should fear they would begin this month (September), and

continue throughout the winter, if nest-boxes were available.


Virginian Cardinals are better out-of-doors than in; all I ever had

(five) died from lieat-apoplexy, although one of these was kept in an

outdoor aviary.



A. G. BuTLEk.



